Can Brain Scans Find a Better Depression Treatment?

6/24/2013 12:37PM

What if there was a physical test or scan that could predict which therapies could most quickly and effectively help a patient suffering from depression? A program at the University of Pittsburgh may be a model of how treatment could change. Andrea Petersen reports. Photo: Renee Rosensteel for The Wall Street Journal.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... he's can point a better ... treatment for depression of ... the research aims to uncover the so-called ... biomarkers that can actually direct patients to medications and there it may help more quickly ... Andy Peterson has been reporting for us she's joined us ... right now on Lunch Break ... it looks to set the stage of people here tonight you Ana's you know someone who has suffered from depression they may have suffered from depression itself but how ... big of a big issue is that in this country do we have some stats on that well at the stocks that people want to scan the site about sixteen percent of Americans will ... have depression at some point in their lifetimes this isn't really a problem and ... when it comes to treatment unfortunately ... the tree Mr. we have medication therapy only work for ... a real smile abruptly small slice of of people the first treatment they tried to ... ALM have ... to go in and essentially generally ... gives her mission into about one-third of patients ... at and ... some kind of relief to about half of ... two thousand and eight and the nation's have to wait about forty six weeks it even find out I think the split drugs can work for that and ... so it was ... the face of the Holy Grail in psychiatry is trying to figure out ... no whites ... is there some sweet I can tell you ... know that the drug acts repair PXP ... EO is is the most likely to work for you ... so that's what researchers around the world are really trying to come in on and they're looking at things like brain scans to Activity Into from parts the brain in our eyes pet scans FMI exactly exactly an even lower cost commenters as well things like Meg's which can measure brain waves ... are some researchers and California have found that a certain ... aam pattern of brain activity ... and take it with a founder in the first week of taking him and pricing can really tell you if that is ... that the drug has been working on are not ... on things like pupil dilation and I actually went to and so there's a lot of research going on ... but there's a day at the University ... Medical Center I had the pleasure of bomb ... meeting with our lab aam Greg Siegal Aside director of outloud that is really ... taking this Aryans the clinic a mean is is that it's it's very early stages but there but they're ... using some this information right now to help ... sort to see if it's feasible if he's looking seems like this makes the doubt and I understand that they gave it to the goal is to use the stands ... the test can act MRI ... to figure out which drug is working best and fastest so that you can get that can lead to more quickly to somebody so they're not right trying a bunch of different drugs when twenty four weeks six weeks exactly which point ... the depression is only becoming exacerbated by the industry Avici people think that these kind of stands and things will also help with drug development to help ... it with different targets for drugs but in the morning near-term ... gas canister can these kind of scans can these ... Camp ... pupil dilation and I'm tracking can all the same as the debt ceiling and make it didn't have anyone doctors to make better decisions right now to the ... spirit equipment is insurance cover its not get not not psychiatry take out gently cover ... the treatment for its ... about sad thoughts of going off a lot of people by Andy Peterson thank you so much thinking two things you think